I'd always used a local butchers (I passed there daily, while going to
the post office) until he retired some years ago, then sadly soon after
passed away, top bloke, well missed.

Anyway, after he retired I would but meat from the supermarket, Lidl
specifically, and I was surprised at the quality, I was sure it must
have improved over the years because I had it in my mind that it wasn't
very good.

These days I have more time on my hands so have been shopping on our
local market, today I threw away 2 chicken thighs that were stinking, I
bought 4 on Thursday and cooked 2, was planing to use the others today.
Is that normal?

I can think of other situations where i've thrown meat away, one
conclusion I can draw is that whatever else, supermarket meat is a lot
cheaper and keeps for longer.

R D S <rsandr@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I'd always used a local butchers (I passed there daily, while going to
> the post office) until he retired some years ago, then sadly soon after
> passed away, top bloke, well missed.
>
> Anyway, after he retired I would but meat from the supermarket, Lidl
> specifically, and I was surprised at the quality, I was sure it must
> have improved over the years because I had it in my mind that it wasn't
> very good.
>
> These days I have more time on my hands so have been shopping on our
> local market, today I threw away 2 chicken thighs that were stinking, I
> bought 4 on Thursday and cooked 2, was planing to use the others today.
> Is that normal?
>
> I can think of other situations where i've thrown meat away, one
> conclusion I can draw is that whatever else, supermarket meat is a lot
> cheaper and keeps for longer.
>

I like CostCo meat but only buy it when we are in the area.

Aldi is good, we have a large one nearby.

Ditto Tesco.

Asda are good as are Morrisons.

I like to use a traditional butchers but finding one which has the stock
etc isn’t easy.

Lidl seem ok but have only recently opened nearby.

Personally, I avoid markets for meat. Ok for fruit and veg but not meat.

Supermarkets tend to have a good turn over of stock so freshness isn’t
normally an issue. We did have some drumsticks which seemed ‘off’. I’m not
sure where from. We just binned them.

On Sun, 12 Feb 2023 13:34:16 -0000 (UTC)
Brian <noinv@lid.org> wrote:

> R D S <rsandr@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > I'd always used a local butchers (I passed there daily, while going
> > to the post office) until he retired some years ago, then sadly
> > soon after passed away, top bloke, well missed.
> >
> > Anyway, after he retired I would but meat from the supermarket,
> > Lidl specifically, and I was surprised at the quality, I was sure
> > it must have improved over the years because I had it in my mind
> > that it wasn't very good.
> >
> > These days I have more time on my hands so have been shopping on
> > our local market, today I threw away 2 chicken thighs that were
> > stinking, I bought 4 on Thursday and cooked 2, was planing to use
> > the others today. Is that normal?
> >
> > I can think of other situations where i've thrown meat away, one
> > conclusion I can draw is that whatever else, supermarket meat is a
> > lot cheaper and keeps for longer.
> >
>
> I like CostCo meat but only buy it when we are in the area.

Agreed, Costco meat quality is better than that of the supermarkets (I
don't know about Waitrose, I'm not overpaid) and their Aberdeen Angus
beefburgers are definitely the gold standard.
>
> Aldi is good, we have a large one nearby.
>
> Ditto Tesco.
>
> Asda are good as are Morrisons.
>
> I like to use a traditional butchers but finding one which has the
> stock etc isn’t easy.
>

Indeed, the few remaining butchers have had to be pretty good to
survive.
>
> Lidl seem ok but have only recently opened nearby.
>
> Personally, I avoid markets for meat. Ok for fruit and veg but not
> meat.

Generally, yes, but there is a butcher who tours the larger local
markets with an artic with a sales counter built into the side, and
does the old market spiel about his stock while he has a couple of
assistants who circulate and take the money. He has a very good
reputation, and it's always difficult to get close to the truck because
of the crowd.
>
> Supermarkets tend to have a good turn over of stock so freshness isn’t
> normally an issue. We did have some drumsticks which seemed ‘off’.
> I’m not sure where from. We just binned them.
>
Supermarkets also have to make good anything that's bad before the
use-by date. I suppose market traders must also do this, but I bet they
don't do it easily. Supermarkets can't afford to get a reputation for
quibbling.

--
Joe

On 12/02/2023 13:19, R D S wrote:
> I'd always used a local butchers (I passed there daily, while going to
> the post office) until he retired some years ago, then sadly soon after
> passed away, top bloke, well missed.

We are lucky enough to have an award-winning butchers just 100yds from home.

> Anyway, after he retired I would but meat from the supermarket, Lidl
> specifically, and I was surprised at the quality, I was sure it must
> have improved over the years because I had it in my mind that it wasn't
> very good.

Supermarkets certainly can supply good quality meat these days, but the
local butcher is still better. The butcher also makes all sorts of
sausages, burgers, marinaded meats, etc., even pies and sells
vegetables, eggs, dairy products, sauces, stocks, gravies - so you can
buy pretty well all you need from a simple almost ready to cook meal, to
all the ingredients for a, from scratch, meal.

It's always busy there!

On 12/02/2023 17:00, SteveW wrote:

>
> Supermarkets certainly can supply good quality meat these days, but the
> local butcher is still better. The butcher also makes all sorts of
> sausages, burgers, marinaded meats, etc., even pies and sells
> vegetables, eggs, dairy products, sauces, stocks, gravies - so you can
> buy pretty well all you need from a simple almost ready to cook meal, to
> all the ingredients for a, from scratch, meal.
>
> It's always busy there!
>

Not all "independent" butchers make quality sausages or burgers nor is
the marinated meat of good quality.

Friends of mine live in a rural area where the supermarkets are a 10
mile drive. There are also four butchers shops within the same radius,
mainly selling meat from know local sources. At least two sell meat from
farms owned by the same family. Friends have tried all of the butchers
in the area and found the products to to be somewhat variable between
shops. They have settled on two but things like sausages and bacon will
only come from one of them and things like pies will only come from the
other.

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On Sunday, 12 February 2023 at 13:19:54 UTC, R D S wrote:
> These days I have more time on my hands so have been shopping on our
> local market, today I threw away 2 chicken thighs that were stinking, I
> bought 4 on Thursday and cooked 2, was planing to use the others today.
> Is that normal?

Apart from the quality of the meat and the sourcing, supermarkets should be on top of keeping an intact 'chill chain'.

Market traders might not be. If your chicken was in the back of a transit van for a few hours that might be enough to tip it over the edge.

Owain

On 12/02/2023 19:05, Owain Lastname wrote:

>
> Market traders might not be. If your chicken was in the back of a transit van for a few hours that might be enough to tip it over the edge.

+1
Plus all day being displayed without any refrigeration.

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

Joe <joe@jretrading.com> wrote:
> On Sun, 12 Feb 2023 13:34:16 -0000 (UTC)
> Brian <noinv@lid.org> wrote:
>
>> R D S <rsandr@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>> I'd always used a local butchers (I passed there daily, while going
>>> to the post office) until he retired some years ago, then sadly
>>> soon after passed away, top bloke, well missed.
>>>
>>> Anyway, after he retired I would but meat from the supermarket,
>>> Lidl specifically, and I was surprised at the quality, I was sure
>>> it must have improved over the years because I had it in my mind
>>> that it wasn't very good.
>>>
>>> These days I have more time on my hands so have been shopping on
>>> our local market, today I threw away 2 chicken thighs that were
>>> stinking, I bought 4 on Thursday and cooked 2, was planing to use
>>> the others today. Is that normal?
>>>
>>> I can think of other situations where i've thrown meat away, one
>>> conclusion I can draw is that whatever else, supermarket meat is a
>>> lot cheaper and keeps for longer.
>>>
>>
>> I like CostCo meat but only buy it when we are in the area.
>
> Agreed, Costco meat quality is better than that of the supermarkets (I
> don't know about Waitrose, I'm not overpaid) and their Aberdeen Angus
> beefburgers are definitely the gold standard.
>>

I missed Waitrose, we don’t have one nearby. That said, when we travel and
find one ( in our motorhome), we like to use them. The price difference
isn’t that much.

The same goes for M&S, we do use the local one - which has one of their new
‘upgraded’ food halls.

>> Aldi is good, we have a large one nearby.
>>
>> Ditto Tesco.
>>
>> Asda are good as are Morrisons.
>>
>> I like to use a traditional butchers but finding one which has the
>> stock etc isn’t easy.
>>
>
> Indeed, the few remaining butchers have had to be pretty good to
> survive.

We have a local one which will order meat in but you need to plan ahead.
Sometime I decide I’m in the mood to cook ;-)

One thing I’ve struggled to find is Ham Hocks - to make soup. Being a
Northerner, I like thick, hearty soups. I make some using chicken or
Turkey stock. I sometimes use the water from boiling a ham / gammon but I
remember a soup I had has a youngster made using Ham Hocks.

On 12/02/2023 20:35, Brian wrote:
> I missed Waitrose, we don’t have one nearby. That said, when we travel and
> find one ( in our motorhome), we like to use them. The price difference
> isn’t that much.

Waitrose lamb is twice as good as the butchers.

--
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as
foolish, and by the rulers as useful.

(Seneca the Younger, 65 AD)

On 12/02/2023 13:19, R D S wrote:
>
> These days I have more time on my hands so have been shopping on our
> local market, today I threw away 2 chicken thighs that were stinking, I
> bought 4 on Thursday and cooked 2, was planing to use the others today.
> Is that normal?

Do I eat the bacon that smells OK but was adjacent to it?

On 14/02/2023 11:36, R D S wrote:
> On 12/02/2023 13:19, R D S wrote:
>>
>> These days I have more time on my hands so have been shopping on our
>> local market, today I threw away 2 chicken thighs that were stinking,
>> I bought 4 on Thursday and cooked 2, was planing to use the others
>> today. Is that normal?
>
> Do I eat the bacon that smells OK but was adjacent to it?
>
To be brutally honest, you get sick from bad meat in two different ways

If it isn't cooked properly the organisms that were on it mayu procreate
in your gut and give you a hard time

If you DO cook it properly, there may be residual toxins in it if you
didnt wash it well first.

I've washed mould off stuff, cooked it and been fine, the more immediate
problem is the taste has changed to 'not very nice'

But furry bacon spruces up well after a wash and tastes good.
Furry cheese that you *dont* cook is an issue.

--
“I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the
greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most
obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of
conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleagues, which
they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by
thread, into the fabric of their lives.”

― Leo Tolstoy

On Wed, 15 Feb 2023 00:16:13 +1100, The Natural Philosopher
<tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:

> On 14/02/2023 11:36, R D S wrote:
>> On 12/02/2023 13:19, R D S wrote:
>>>
>>> These days I have more time on my hands so have been shopping on our
>>> local market, today I threw away 2 chicken thighs that were stinking,
>>> I bought 4 on Thursday and cooked 2, was planing to use the others
>>> today. Is that normal?
>> Do I eat the bacon that smells OK but was adjacent to it?
>>
> To be brutally honest, you get sick from bad meat in two different ways
>
> If it isn't cooked properly the organisms that were on it mayu procreate
> in your gut and give you a hard time
>
> If you DO cook it properly, there may be residual toxins in it if you
> didnt wash it well first.
>
> I've washed mould off stuff, cooked it and been fine, the more immediate
> problem is the taste has changed to 'not very nice'

When I was working for the govt in a holiday job doing
scientific research in our Kosioscko National Park with
us camping in a old house and a small caravan with no
refrigeration at all, in summer, we used to have fresh
meat delivered weekly by the mail carrier. As you can
imagine by the end of the week the chops were usually
a bit green. We never bothered to wash them, just grilled
them as usual and never had any gut problems and they
tasted fine.

Dehydrated Surprise peas and dehydrated potato flakes
which turned into mashed potatoes when heated with water.

For some odd reason I'm not partial to mashed potatoes anymoe.

Chop and frozen peas are fine tho.

> But furry bacon spruces up well after a wash and tastes good.

> Furry cheese that you *dont* cook is an issue.

Bullshit. Plenty of cheese like blue vein and cambert etc is
furry deliberately.